40 



THE OOLOGIST. 



CORRESPENDENCE. 



FliO.Vt M[\NK>SOrA. 



There has beeu quite a number of Eve- 

 ning Grosbeaks here since January. They 

 were seen on January 30th, March 3d, 5th 

 and 13th, several specimens being secured 

 by parties here. The first Robin was seen 

 on March 17th, five days earlier than last 

 year. Several Crows and a Hawk were 

 noticed to-daj' sailing by. The Black- 

 capped Chickadee lias been here In flocks 

 several times this winter, also the Cedar 

 Waxwing. C. B. J. 



Redwing, Minn. 



FROM WISCONSIN ; RED-HEADED WOOD- 

 PECKER. 



Seeing the item on the canibalisn of the 

 Red headed Wood -pecker, reminded me of 

 an incident that a friend of mine witnessed 

 last summer. A Flicker had made its nest in 

 an apple tree about four feet from the 

 ground and had laid six eggs, and then for 

 some reason left her nest. My friend went 

 a day or two later to get the eggs and 

 found one broken on the groimd and the 

 rest were gone. Just then a Red-headed 

 Wood pecker attracted his attention by 

 "smacking its lips," as he expressed it, 

 and he went to the tree about two rods dis- 

 tant from the first tree, and there found in 

 a crevice in the upper side of a limb, the 

 missing live eggs, each with a hole in it, 

 and one or two empty. 



Last spring I discovered a Hairy Wood- 

 Pecker's nest in an apple tree, in which 

 there were two young birds. The old 

 birds left the nest upon being disturbed, 

 and didn't return. I visited the nest a 

 while after and found the young birds 

 were dead and another bird had lined the 

 nest with rootlets, and laid five egg!i, half 

 again as large as a Blue-bird's and some- 

 what darker in color. I watched the nest 

 for two or three days, and being unable to 

 discover the old birds, I took the set. 

 Shortly after. I revisited the nest and 

 found that a Blue-bird had lined the nest 

 with grass and laid five eggs. Could any 

 of the readers of The Oologist tell me 

 what the second bird was by the descrip- 

 tion of the nest V O. M. 



Whitewater, Wis. 



A NEST OF THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING 

 BIRD. 



Oakliill. a small hamlet situated among 

 the Catskills, afforded fine facilities 

 for egg-collecting, and gave ample space 

 for the observation of bird life when Ivis- 

 iled it a few summers ago. It lay in a 

 valley and there was a noisy little brook 

 running through it which was fringed with 



willows. Sauntering along a cool, shady 

 road, which was bordei'ed on the right by 

 the brook, and on the left by a hill, and 

 which lead to an old saw-mill, my ciu'iosi- 

 ty was aroused b}^ sieeing a beautiful little 

 Ruby-throated Humming-bird {Trocldlus 

 colubris) perched upon a limb of a small 

 hickory tree which stood by the roadside. 

 Hoping to find a nest, I began searching 

 the limbs from where I stood. Presently 

 I saw it placed upon a limb about eight 

 feet from the ground. Seeing me ascend 

 the trunk the male flew down from his 

 perch and alarmed his mate who was sit- 

 ting. Together they darted round and 

 round my head, almost touching mc in 

 their swift aerial movements. But after 

 finding this to be of no use they retired to 

 a neighboring twig and watched the de- 

 vastation of their home. The nest meas- 

 ured about one inch and a quarter at its 

 greatest diameter by about one inch in 

 depth. It was covered with lichens and 

 Avas so dispo.sed upon the limb as to appear 

 almost like a knot from the ground below. 

 Its interior was lined with thistle down 

 and vegetable w^ool. It contained two lit- 

 tle pearly white eggs which, upon blowing, 

 I found to be but slightly incubated. 

 H. S. M. 

 Akron, O. 



jottings from a PENNSYLVANIA COL- 

 LECTOR. 



Have just returned from a three days' 

 jaunt on the Susquehanna. W^hile there I 

 took the eggs of the Turkey Buzzard, 

 Kingfisher, Red-tailed Hawk, etc.; also 

 found a nest of the Bald Eagle in a waler- 

 birch tree, and after climbing, found two 

 young ones on a nest four feet in diameter, 

 the top perfect!}' level. Brought one of 

 the J'oung home with me and think he will 

 make a bright pet. 



Last week I took a nest of five Sparrow 

 Hawks but three and a half feet from the 

 ground, the lowest nest I know of, and a 

 set of Virginia Rails. This is a very rare 

 breeder iiTthis locality. Yesterday morn- 

 ing 1 found a dais}^ set of 12 Ruiled 

 Grouse, another rare one here. This 

 morning I struck the Downy Wood -pecker. 

 Think he is early. S. B. Ladd, 



West Chester, Pa. 



May 10, 1886. 



what CONSTITUTES A SET OR CLUTCH OP 

 EGGS. 



Would the eggs taken from a Flicker 

 one at a time till thirty or more are taken, 

 be called a regular set or clutcli? • 

 C. H. D., 



Sharon, Wis. 



